more than the wildest guess

[Silverobama]

Hi,

It is impossible to make more than the wildest guess at how many they kill but they are hungry creatures, not content with only three meals a day.


May I have your opinion on the meaning of "more than the wildest guess" in the sentence?


Thanks a lot

[corum]

difficult to estimate

[Silverobama]

Thanks a lot.

But how does the "more than" work here?


It is impossible to make more than the wildest guess at how many they kill but they are hungry creatures, not content with only three meals a day.

[corum]

impossible to make more than that; to make more than the wildest guess

"wildest guess" is an alteration of the idiom "wild guess", which means a rough guess, a shot in the dark.

[Raymott]

Thanks a lot.

But how does the "more than" work here?


It is impossible to make more than the wildest guess at how many they kill but they are hungry creatures, not content with only three meals a day.

It is possible to make a wild guess at how many they kill. But that is the most you can do. You cannot get a more accurate answer than a wild guess will give you. You cannot make more than a wild guess.